Culture is the ideas, customs, language, beliefs, history, traditions and social behaviour of a particular people or society, including artistic expression and natural and human heritage. Culture comprises Cultural Industries and Cultural Resources.

Art is the inventive use of talent, creativity and technique to produce an original expression of an idea with an aesthetic quality. This includes but is not limited to, literature, dance, theatre, visual arts, crafts, performance, media arts, music and film.

Heritage is social, cultural and ethnic elements which produce a layering of Culture from the past and into the future. Cultural Heritage Resources are structures, sites, environments, artifacts and traditions that are of cultural, historical, architectural or archaeological value, significance or interest.

Creative Industries are businesses and individuals that use talent, creativity and skill in order to produce tangible and intangible goods, which are usually protected by copyright and require constant adaption. Examples include, but are not limited to, advertising, architecture, arts, antiques, crafts, design, fashion, ﬁlm, photography, software, computer games, electronic publishing, music, visual and performing arts, publishing, television and radio.

A Cultural Product is the consumable result of artistic or heritage undertakings as either physical or experiential goods. These consumable goods are produced by the Cultural Industries, festivals, heritage sites, performances, visual arts and crafts

Cultural Resources are the tangible and intangible elements which support Culture, including cultural spaces and facilities, natural and cultural heritage, programs/activities and all other infrastructure and ﬁnancial support available for the development and maintenance of Culture.

An Emerging Artist is an artist who has specialized training in his or her ﬁeld (not necessarily gained in an academic institution), who is at an early stage in his or her career and who has created a modest, independent body of work.

Interculturalism is a strategy that advocates harmonious relations between cultures based on an integration process that does not seek to eliminate differences, but to foster the development of a common identity.

Multiculturalism is a strategy based on respect for and the promotion of ethnic diversity in society and the co-existence of diverse cultures. Culture includes racial, religious or cultural groups and is manifested in customary behaviours, cultural assumptions and values, patterns of thinking and communicative styles.

A Museum is a non-proﬁt, permanent establishment, exempt from federal and provincial income taxes, open to the public and/or digitally available. Museums are administered for the purpose of collecting and preserving, studying, interpreting, assembling and exhibiting to the public (for their instruction, interest and enjoyment) objects and specimens of cultural value. These include artistic, scientific (whether animate or inanimate), historical and technological material.

Professional Artist is an individual who earns all or a sizeable portion of their livelihood through remuneration for artistic performance or creation and is recognized by his or her peers as an artist.

Public Art for the purposes of the Culture Master Plan, refers to art found in the public realm that has undergone a formal art selection process administered by City of Mississauga Public Art Program. Public art is publicly accessible to all citizens and can be in any medium/media, take on any shape, form or scale. Public art can be permanent or temporary. Public art can include, but is not limited to, artist led community art, mural art, installation, digital, hoarding, sculpture and street art. These works can be standalone site-specific works or they can be integrated or semi-integrated into other functioning design elements such as street furniture, architecture or landscape architecture.

Temporary Public Art: can exist as an installation or festival, and is not intended to last forever. Temporary public art can last for a few months to up to 15 years, and will only be maintained if damages occur within the given time period.

Permanent Public Art: most commonly existing as a sculpture, permanent public art has also been integrated into playgrounds, and public squares. Permanent public art requires a maintenance plan and maintenance budget, and its conception often integrates a certain level of community consultation, as it will become an everlasting feature of the community.